Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,720 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $13,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $572,224,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in KLA by 52.8% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 22.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,074,884 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $759,532,000 after purchasing an additional 385,420 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 10.4% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,844,959 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,133,396,000 after buying an additional 268,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of KLA by 6,309.1% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $145,410,000 after buying an additional 246,244 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $652.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. The company has a market cap of $88.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.47, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $355.88 and a 1 year high of $729.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $684.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $591.25.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $688.42.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB, Display and Component Inspection.